The grave of a motorcycle legend has finally been marked in a Redcar cemetery - 43 years after his death.

Sidecar maestro Cyril Smith was one of Britain's kings of the track in the 1950s.

Riding his home-made, home-tuned Norton motorbike and sidecar, he finished second in the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix just three weeks after breaking his collarbone and fracturing his skull during a Belgian practice session.

And in the ultimate defiance of doctors who said he may not ride again, his crowning moment came later that year when he took the world title by finishing fifth in the final race of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix.

In subsequent years, he was runner-up twice and third once.

And all the while, his wife Irene was singing two nights a week with a band to help pay for Cyril's insurance.

Sadly, the cost of keeping going proved too much and, in 1959, Cyril retired from the sport he loved.

The couple then moved from their Midlands home to Redcar for work, but tragically, a disillusioned Cyril took his own life in 1962, aged just 43.

Since then, his grave has remained unmarked because Irene could not afford to buy the plot or pay for a stone.

But now their daughter, Kathleen Dibben, has stepped in to ensure Cyril has a fitting resting place.

Kathleen, 65, of Longford, Gloucestershire, married 1953 sidecar passenger world champion, a former passenger for Cyril, Stan Dibben. As she went through her late mother's papers two years ago, she was shocked to find that her father's grave had not been paid for.

She said: "I felt he was such a character and so revered by such a lot of people that he deserved better than to be lying in an unmarked grave."

On Saturday, , Kathleen saw the vicar of Kirkleatham, the Reverend Chris Greenwell, conduct a graveside ceremony and dedicate a black marble headstone.

Family and friends were accompanied to the graveside by a standard bearer and veterans of the Royal Tank Regiment.

Former Desert Rat Cyril was mentioned in wartime despatches twice for his work recovering British tanks from German minefields.

Kathleen said: "I have a sense of closure now. I'm satisfied that my dad's grave is paid for and, most importantly, marked. I hope I've done him proud."

Mr Greenwell said it was a poignant service for a deserving man.

"To reach the top of your chosen field is quite an achievement," he said.